Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Resources: Akron, Ohio City Directories .... and vaccines

There's a potato chip that used to have the slogan: "You Can't Eat Just One."

The same should be true for genealogists checking out city directories: "You Can't Read Just One." That's why I'm so pleased to learn that the Akron-Summit County Library Special Collections has digitized about 100 Akron city directories from 1858 to 1969.

"Selected years" just doesn't cut it, because in any given year people were missed or misspelled, or an extra tidbit of information about their workplace, spouse, or death might have been included. Those with Summit County research targets should think of this, not as 100 separate volumes, but as a movie of Akron people with each volume a single image. You can't get the good out of a movie by watching a single still. Enjoy!

(Hat tip to Chris Staats on Facebook)

For your context file: The AHA Today newsletter points to a well-documented site from The College of Physicians of Philadelphia on The History of Vaccines, including a history of anti-vaccination movements in the colonial US, Victorian England, and more recently.

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